More than €3.7 million has been paid to businesses across the county under the Increased Cost of Business grant this year.

That’s according to Minister for Disability and Galway East Deputy Anne Rabbitte, who said that data supplied to her showed a total of 1,946 businesses registered for the grant through Galway County Council covering 2,235 properties.

To date, 2,044 have been approved for the grant while 2,030 (99%) have received their first payment, totalling €3,733,200 in funding supports.

Businesses in the retail and hospitality sectors are entitled to a second payment for approved businesses and a double payment for new registrations.

A total of 1,085 business have registered for the second payment, with Galway County Council working through the approval process at present.

As part of Budget 2024, the government signed off on a package of €257 million for the Increased Cost of Business grant as a vital measure for small and medium businesses.

Local authorities, funded through the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, managed the rollout of the grant to qualifying businesses.

The Minister acknowledged that many businesses had seen an increase in their costs through a number of factors.

“The Increased Cost of Business grant is intended to be paid at a rate of half the business’s commercial rates bill in 2023, for those paying up to €10,000 in rates,” she said.

“For those paying between €10,000 and €30,000 in rates, they will receive a grant of €5,000. This payment is not intended to compensate for all of the increased costs, but the money will provide a welcome cash injection for many businesses.

“We are acutely aware of the ongoing cost challenges faced by businesses. As clearly demonstrated throughout the lifetime of this government, we have listened and responded to the needs of business. It’s great to see adjustments have been made to the original scheme design to include more businesses and the efforts made to target the small and micro enterprises who are part of the fabric of every community across Galway,” she added.

This includes the doubling of the Innovation Grant Scheme to €10,000 as well as increasing the maximum amount available under the Energy Efficiency Grant Scheme to €10,000.

“The issue of PRSI has also been raised with me so it’s very welcome to see that the employer PRSI threshold is increasing from €441 to €496 with effect from October 1,” she said.

“This will ensure that employers with employees earning the weekly equivalent of the national minimum wage will pay the lower rate of employer PRSI rate of 8.8%.

“We will continue to monitor what remains a challenging businesses environment and continue to support our businesses,” concluded Minister Rabbitte.

Pictured: Minister Anne Rabbitte.